Matrox G550 and PCI-DIO 96 conflict

[youngma]

I have a brand new Dell Optiplex GX270. When I installed a Matrox G550 AGP video card and my PCI-DIO-96, the system would not boot (as far as I could tell, not much disk noise, no video). If I remove either the video card (and use the built-in video) or the DIO, the system works fine. In addition, if I turn the monitor off prior to booting, the system will boot normally. I installed the drivers before installing the DIO card itself. Any insight would be appreciated.

[rgharrison]

Hi youngma,

This is almost always caused by a bad power supply (weak power output). What happens is that the power supply can't provide enough current to maintain the requirements of the system.

Since you have noticed that swapping components in and out of the system corrects this problem, it sounds very much like you need a new power supply.

Note: This could also be caused by a short on any of the boards. But since the computer can boot with just the boards this is not likely the cause but the power supply is.

Hope that helps. Have a good day.

Ron

[youngma]

OK, I suppose that's possible. The power supply is not faulty, unless all the other ones that I tried are faulty as well, but it could be underpowered (250 W). Why would turning the monitor off cause it to boot correctly, it's not like the monitor is drawing power from the video card, it's just getting a signal. I have run this system successfully with another PCI card (TrueTime IRIG card) and didn't have the problem, only with the DIO-96. This combination of cards worked fine in our old home-built Athlon boxes with a 300 W power supply.

Michael

[rgharrison]

Hi Michael,

The graphics card will not output power if the monitor is not connected. It will use up some power but there will be no signal current so some of the power will not be required by the graphics card.

By the sounds of it, it looks like your system (graphics card, DIO-96 etc.) will require a 300 W power supply to work correctly.

Anyway, good luck with your application.

Ron